Fairfax Connector agreement ends two-week bus strike
The Fairfax Connector workers’ union reached an agreement with the private company that operates the buses Wednesday evening, marking an end to a strike that has suspended bus service for two weeks.
Bus service, though, will still be suspended Thursday and will resume Friday.
“Members are excited about a the new contract that secures their retirement security and offers wages comparable with other regional transit systems,” said Benjamin Lynn, the spokesman for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, which represents many of the Connector workers.
The Fairfax Connector bus service, the largest bus system in Northern Virginia, has been shuttered since Feb. 22, when hundreds of workers went on strike over contract negotiations for better pay and benefits. Bus service was suspended Wednesday for the 13th consecutive day as workers voted on the agreement, according to officials at the union, which represents more than 600 bus drivers and mechanics.
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The Connector typically serves about 26,000 passengers on 93 routes daily, some of whom had to resort to using costly ride-hailing apps to get around during the strike.
“We will immediately prioritize restoring full service as soon as possible,” Mitun Seguin, a spokeswoman for Transdev, which operates the Connector, said in an emailed statement Wednesday morning as the union started voting on the agreement.
The union began the strike after negotiations did not result in sufficient pay and benefits increases, union officials previously said. They argued that the current contract has left many Connector workers with meager pay that doesn’t allow them to live comfortably in the area or contribute to retirement benefits.
Union members took a strike authorization vote around Christmas, and 99 percent voted in favor of going on strike.
This wasn’t the first time the Fairfax bus workers went on strike and services were affected. In December 2019, the union went on strike over unsatisfactory pay, and some buses ran on a reduced schedule.
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